Synthesis and characterisation of nickel-iron bimetallic oxide nanoparticles via microwave irradiation technique

Abstract

Nickel- Iron bimetallic oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized in ethylene glycol using microwave irradiation technique. The microwave assisted synthesized Nickel and iron oxide nanoparticles are combined together in 1:1 molar ratio and treated under microwave irradiation followed by calcination to get Ni-Fe bimetallic oxide. The structure and composition of nanoparticles are characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, FT-IR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The empirical formula of the nanoparticle is found as Ni1Fe1.6O2.9 at 500 ºC, Ni1Fe1.5O2.6 at 700 ºC and Ni1Fe2O2.7 at 900 ºC by varied reaction conditions. A maximum absorbance of 357.67 nm is observed in UV-visible spectrum. The average size of particles in all cases is found to be ~30 nm as confirmed from TEM images. Antibacterial and antifungal studies have not shown any appreciable results.